According to a study released by Cognitive Daily, the average listener struggles to tell the difference in audio quality between the lowest-resolution MP3 files at 64 kbps and the so-called high-resolution 256 kbps files that are sold in limited quantities as “high definition” from the likes of Apple’s iTunes and Amazon’s new download site.

The study looked at three different resolutions of audio, ranging from Good (64 kbps) to Better (128 kbps) and Best (256 kbps), for two selections of music, including a Santana track and a classical piece by composer Aaron Copeland. The study also asked the group to self-define themselves on a scale of one to nine in terms of how much they consider themselves to be audiophiles (nine being the most critical of listeners and one being a listener who isn’t concerned with audio quality at all).
The results show that self-proclaimed audiophiles could better hear the
differences between the three grades of audio better than
non-audiophile listeners. Fascinatingly, listeners with decades of
musical training on various instruments showed no specific gift for
hearing the difference between the levels of these low-resolution MP3
files.

Where one could find fault with the study is in its methodology. A
compact disc, the most successful audio format in the history of the
history of the world, packs 16-bit resolution and 1411 kbps data rate.
This is many times higher than that of the tested MP3s that are
currently being pushed on the market today. Much higher-resolution
downloads from less mainstream music websites like Music Giants and
iTrax start at 1100 kbps and increase to over 9000 kbps, thus getting
to the resolutions that audiophiles heard on truly high-resolution
formats like SACD and DVD-Audio. These vastly higher-resolution files
have many times more data, allowing for a musical experience that is
much closer to what is captured on the master tape simply because of
the higher resolution, data rate and sampling rate. Complicated audio
events like a cymbal crash require tremendous amounts of data for an
audio system to reproduce it in the same way the human ear would hear
the sound live. Lower data rate and resolution MP3 files often are
criticized for sounding “bright” or “shrill” by audio professionals and
mainstream listeners alike when compared to true HD music formats that
extend far past the performance of low-resolution, “lossy” (meaning
compressed) MP3 files. One noted record producer suggested the
difference between the 256 kbps MP3 format in this study is like
testing the 0-60 on a Prius vs. a Camry, when true HD resolutions are
more like testing a Ferrari. The amount of data and resolution is many
times higher and more able to bridge the gap between the physical
limitations of audio playback and an actual musical event.

The sad commentary here is that the four major record labels are
unwilling to market their content at any level of real high definition.
Simply put, one-fourth the resolution of a 25-year-old compact disc
(256 kbps) format is not “high-resolution” anything, despite what Apple
says. The majors fought over the differences between SACD and
DVD-Audio, leaving discerning consumers feeling ambivalent about
investing in either format because of a lack of titles, complications
in system set-up, a lack of video content and overall cost. Yet video
games costing $60 to $90 per title sell in volumes that are five times
higher than today’s best-selling CDs. High-definition movies on HD DVD
and Blu-ray sell in increasingly strong volumes, while over 3,000,000
HDTV sets are sold per month in the United States. The ship has likely
sailed for SACD and DVD-Audio, but both the new HD DVD and Blu-ray
formats allow huge storage capacity for an audio and video experience
that can expand the “album” concept far beyond one or two
low-resolution files. But the major labels, as their sales spiral down
the toilet bowl, simply fail to release their music in any compelling
format that improves on the value proposition or audio quality, thus
turning to very low-resolution downloads because they represent the
lowest-hanging fruit for a business that simply cannot market its way
out of a paper bag. The art of emotionally charged high-resolution
music has been left to smaller players, but if you want to hear what
the potential of a real download sounds like, listen to the Super HD
downloads from Music Giants. There is no comparison between the power
of what they are doing and a mere 256 kbps file.